

Double click on the file and it should open in Windows Media Player. (7) After it’s finished, you can find the movie file in the location you specified earlier. NOTE: If Movie Maker saves your file instantly, you did NOT export it correctly! It should take some time to compress the file. (6) Movie Maker will take a few minutes (or maybe more than a few) to compress the exported movie. (5) Choose the Other Settings button and then select a fairly small file size so that the movie isn’t enormous. You can also specify the spot on your hard drive where you want Movie Maker to save your movie file. NOTE: Do not put any spaces or punctuation marks, other than hyphens or underscores, in your file name, or you won’t be able to upload it! (3) Enter the appropriate file name for your movie, which should be something like: lastname-project2 (2) Choose the “My Computer” option for the location of your movie. (1) Go to the File menu and choose Save Movie File. (Save the project file first, so you don’t lose your most recent edits.)

Here are the steps you should follow after you’re finished editing your project file and are ready to share it with others. Instead, Microsoft calls it “Make a movie file.” Unfortunately, Microsoft didn’t use what would’ve been the obvious word, Export, to help you recognize how to do this. To make a movie you can share with others, you need to have Movie Maker export it and compress it into a format you can send over the internet. This is your original project file that works only in your copy of Movie Maker.

But when you’re ready to share your movie with others, keep in mind that you can’t actually share this project file. While you’re working on a project in Movie Maker, you should periodically choose Save from the File menu to save your project file.
